Apparatus for deoxidizing or oxidizing



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` A. B.. KITTSON & A. B. BROWNE.

APPARATUS POR DBOXIDIZING 0R OXIDIZING.

Ne. 522,422. Petented July s, 1894.

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A. B. KITTSON an A. B. BROWNB. APPARATUS FOR DBOXIDIZING 0R OXIDIZING.

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(No Model.) 4 sheetssheet A.'B.@K1TTSON & A. B. BROWNE., APPARATUS PQR DEXIDIZING 0R OXIDIZING..

NO. 522,422. Patented July 3, 1894..

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AfB. KITTSON & A. B. BROWNB. .APPARATUS FOR DEOXIDIZING 0B. OXIDIZING.

No. 522,422. Patented J111y`v3, 1894.

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w/vvesses, v l :Wm y v ,h Wwf UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED B. KITTSON, OF BOSTON, AND ARTHUR BENJ. BROWNE, OF

' CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUSFOR DEO-XIDIZING OR` OXIDIZING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 522,422, dated July 3, 1894. Application tiled August 18,1893 Serial No. 483.449. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that we, ALFRED B. KITTSON, of Dorchester, Boston,.county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, and ARTHUR BENJAMIN BROWNE, of Cambridge, county of Middlesex, State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Apparatus for Deoxidizing or Ox1d1z1ng, of which the following description, In connectionwith the accompanying draw- 1ngs,1s a specification, like letters and figures on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention has f or its object the production of an apparatus for deoxidizing lor ox1d1z1ng material, such as ore, &c., in a rapid, cheap and convenient manner, our invention consisting in various details of construction to be'hereinafter described and claimed.

Figure l is an elevation, taken at the feed c nd, of an apparatus embodying our invention. Fig. 2 isa similar view of the apparatus taken at the delivery end, with the door of one of the hoods removed. Fig. 3 is aside elevation thereof, showing the fire and ash doors, and Fig. 4 is al vertical longitudinal section enlarged, and partly broken out, taken on the line srs-x, Fig. 2. f' A brick or masonry furnace A, provided at its ends, as herein shown, with metallic cas'- lngs M and N, has a combustion chamber B extending across the same, with a grate B therein of usual construction, access being had to the combustion chamber and ash pit by suitable doors p andp respectively, see Fig. 3, a damper m opening into said chamber.

Bridge walls A and A2, see Fig. 4, are located at each endof the combustion chamber, provided with openings a and 602x respectively, for the passage of the products of combustion, and as herein shown the openings are at different heights, the opening ax being the lower. These openings communicate with iues D which lead to. collecting iiues or pipes Z13, opening into the stackI or chimney R. As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 there are three iiues D, at Aeach endof the apparatus, and` preferably each bridge wall has three openings therein, similar to `ctx and @2X respectively, communicating each vwith a flue, and for a purpose hereinafter described.

A crown sheet T closes the top of the combustion chamber, and is supported by the f sides and-bridge walls of the furnace, as

clearly shown in Fig. 4, said crown sheet being pierced preferably above the center of the grate to receive the ends of one or more carburetors P, two being herein shown, see Figs.

l, 2, and 3, said carburetors being closed at their upper ends by movable caps or covers kf, and provided with test valves a3.

The lower ends of the carburetors open into or communicate with the combustion chamber, see Fig. 4, and are provided with grates g, herein vshown as conical, to sustain the charcoal or other carbonaceous material with which the carburetors are to be filled, for a purpose to be described.

A pipe b2 connects the carburetorswith the exhaust side of a suitable fan or blower G, valves e controlling the connectionA between said lpipe and each carburetor, and a suitable pipe or passage d4 connects the pressure side of the fan or blower G with a hood H located at the feed end of the apparatus and secured to or forming a part of the casing N, the hood having a door d2 whereby access may be had to its interior, suitable catches, shown herein as thumb nuts n', serving to retain thev door tightly shut when the apparatus is in operation.

From the foregoing description it will be :seen that a portion of the products of cornbustion traverse the carburetors P, 'are drawn thence by the fan or blower G and conveyed to the closed hood. v

' A seriesof cylinders, one of which as C is shown in section in Fig. 4, are supported in suitable bearings M', N .in the casings M and N respectively, said cylinders extending through the openings aX and a2* inthe bridge walls heretofore described, in an inclined position withyrelation to the horizon, the ends of the cylinders projecting beyond the ends of the furnace, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. Said cylinders are made of lmetal and provided on the inside with a series of longitudinal bars or projections 8, dividing said cylinders into a series of longitudinal grooves or channels extending from one to the other end thereof, the upper or feed ends of the cylinders or chambers being open, asat 10, Fig. 4, and into each cylinder through said opening is extended a feed duct s2 communicating with the outlet of a hopper F, into which the ore or other material to be deoxidized or oxidized is fed, the same having preferably been previously pulverized.

The outlet of the hopper is provided with a suitable controlling valve v5 secured to the valve steln s3 extended through the support h2 and controlled by a suitable hand wheel h3, rotation of the latter in one or the other direction raising or lowering the stem, and thereby the valve c5, to regulate the fiow of the material to the feed duct. The feed ducts are each provided with a worm or screw s6 secured on a shaft a7 extended through the outer wall of the hood H, and provided with a sprocket or other wheel b9, whereby the shaft may be rotated to feed the material forward through the feed duct and into the upper end of cylinder C, as best shown in Fig. l.

The sprocket wheels b are rotated by a chain L driven in any suitable manner, not herein shown, said chain being supported by idlers c5 and e6, as shown, whereby the feed of the material into each of the cylinders is uniform, the rate of feed being regulated by the rapidity of travel of the sprocket chain L. It is obvious that belt pulleys and a belt might be substituted for the sprocket wheel and chain to accomplish the same purpose.

The cylinders are preferably provided at their upper ends and outside of the casingN with flanged guide wheels f which rest upon friction or other rolls f2, serving to keep the cylinders in position and also to reduce friction.

As shown in Figs. 2 and 4, the lower ends of the cylinders are closed by caps H2 formed to present a friction bearing r adapted to rest upon a series of friction rolls` r3, the projecting ends of the cylinders and the caps thereon being inclosed by the hood H', provided with a door cl' adapted to be tightly closed during the operation of the apparatus.

The caps H2 are provided with a series of peripheral openings cl through which the ore and the gas escape after passing through the cylinder, removable ends c' being secured to the cap whereby access may be had to the interior ofthe cylinder if desired, and, as shown in Fig. 2 the cap is removed entirely from the left hand piece, and the end piece from the center cylinder.

The gear s is formed on or secured to the cap, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, to be engaged by a sprocket or other chain K, see Fig. 2, said chain being guided and supported by idlers c2, d2 and cl3, whereby the cylinders C are rotated in the same direction and at the same rate of speed, the weight of the cylinder largely being taken up by the friction bearings at its projecting ends, as described.

Referring to Fig. 4 it will be seen that the central portion of each cylinder is located immediately over the combustion chamber and consequently is most highly heated at its central portion, the heat gradually diminishing toward the ends as the products of combustion pass through the openiu gs in the bridge walls and out through the fines D, so that the heat gradually increases from the feed end of the cylinder tothe center thereof, thence gradually diminishing to the delivery or outlet.

The hood H' is provided with a series of discharge ducts o, and preferably between each discharge and the corresponding cap H2 We interpose trunks o', best shown in Fig. 2, which fit snugly around a portion of the cap and open into said discharge ducts.

In Fig. 2 one of the trunks o has been omitted to show the cylinder end from which the cap has been removed.

The lues D are provided with sui table dampers d actuated by external levers a4 to which are pivoted adjusting rack-bars ci.

A fine E leads from the hood ll and com' municates with the stack or chimney R for the purpose of carrying off the gases escaping from the cylinders or chambers.

The operation of the apparatus described when used to deoxidize is as follows-The carburetor P having been filled, by means of the movable covers 7c', with some carbonaceous material, preferably coke or charcoal, a tire is built upon the grate of the combustion chamberB and the fan or blower G is set in motion, whereby the gaseous products of combustion, consisting principally of carbondioxide, are drawn from the combustion chamber and through the carburetors, highly heating the same and causing the carbon-dioxide to part with one atom of oxygen, thereby becoming carbon-monoxide. This carbon-monoxide is forced through the pipe (Z4 into the hood Il, and thence into the cylinders C through the open ings lO in their upper end, where it comes in contact with the pulverized ore which is fed in gradually by the feeding mechanism hereinbefore described, the ore, as heretofore stated, being gradually heated until it reaches the center of the cylinders. 'lhe cylinders are revolved by the mechanism described, andowing to the inclinations of the cylinders and the projections or bars 8 the ore is made to slowly traverse the entire length of the cylinders in constant contact with the highly heated carbon-monoxide with which the cylinder is filled, finally dropping out of the lower end of the cylinder through the apertures c4, provided for that purpose,into the trunks o and out through the discharge ducts o. The projections or bars in the rotation of the cylinders carry a portion of the ore up along the y side and then drop it into the bottom of the cylinders to thoroughly expose it to the ac tion of and bring it in contact with the carbon-monoxide which constantly lills the cyliuders, due to the pressure exerted by the fan or blower G, and inasmuch as the inclination of each cylinder is known, and the number of revolutions made thereby per minute, the length of time required for the ore to pass from one to the other end of the cylinder can be calculatedreadily. By the action of the carbon-monoxide upon the ore metallic oxides IOO therein are reduced and are discharged from the .hood H', the carbon-monoxide combining.

with thek oxygen of the material and being thereby converted to carbon-dioxide, escaping through the apertures c4,which are 11ppermost in the rotation of the cylinders, into the hood H and thence by pipe E to the stack lor chimney.

of oxidizing the valves e are closed, to thereby cut off the carburetor P from the fan or blower, and the valve bx in the branch b is opened, to thereby open the inlet side of the fan to the air, whereby air is forced through the yfan d4 to hood H', and thence into the cylinder C, to supply a superabundance of oxygen thereto to act upon and oxidize the materials passed therethrough.

Our apparatus is particularly adapted to the production of iron from hematite and o ther ores, and in the manufacture of metalllc paint, which is composed of peroxide of iron, we have found our apparatus to -be well adapted tocarry out the successive steps in such process, which is described and claimed 1n another application pending concurrently herewith,-Serial No. 482,857, filed August l0,

Hydrogen or any other reducing gas which is capable of uniting with the oxygen in the material treated may be used'instead of carbon-monoxide in the hereinbefore described apparatus when used 'for deoxidizing, although we have found that the vcarbon-m0- noxide is ypreferable for many reasons and isy as veffective as any other ofk the reducing gases which Wel have tried. The/material in the reducing chamber is gradully heated until it reaches the central portion of said chambers, as described where the temperature is highest, and where the reduction of the metallic oxides is practically completed. From such point to the discharge or delivery end of the chambers the heat gradually diminishes, and the reduced oxides passthrough the trunks 0 to the open air so cooled that they will not return to their former condition when brought into contact therewith.

It willbe noticed thatfrom the entrance of the material into the reducing chambers until its discharge therefrom it is inan atmosphere ofV substantially pure carbon-monoxide gas, so that the metallic oxides are exposed to its action throughout their passage.

The aperturesin the caps of the cylindrical chambers serve to discharge the material when they lare downturned in the revolution of the chambers, and permit the escape of the converting gas when they are uppermost, and hence uncovered by the material.

The size of the opening at the feed end of lthe chamber is so great compared with the lapertures at the other end that the chamber is maintained full of -the converting gas by the backpressure thus made with very slight pressure exerted by the fan or blower.

Our invention is not limited to the specific construction and arrangement of parts as herein shown and described, as it is evident that the same may be modified and altered without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, the gist of which consists i'n an apparatus for continuously and automatically subjecting material `in an externally heated chamber to the action of a reducing gas to deoxidize the metallic oxides in said material and deliver them at the delivery or discharge end of the apparatus, the heat of the said chamber decreasing from itscenter to its ends, or to subject the material in the chamber. to oxygen, to oxidize the same.

We claiml. In an apparatus for continuously deoxidizing or oxidizing, a rotatable externally heated inclined cylinder Vhaving a series of longitudinal channels therein, and means to rotate it, a feed duct leading into the upper end of the cylinder, and a movable feeding device to positively and continuously force the material through the vfeed duct into the cylinder, combined with means to force a con-v verting gas into and to fill the cylinder,. whereby the material received from the feed duct is agitated' and moved forward in the cylinder by meansof the channels therein, in the presence of and to be acted upon by said gas, and delivered automaticallyat the lower end of the cylinder, substantially as described.

2. In an apparatus for deoxidizing and oxidizing, a rotatable inclined cylinder having a means to heat the cylinder gradually from the ends to the center, combined with a feed duct for the material to be treated at the upperopen end of the cylinder, a feeding device movable in and to positively and continuously force a regulated quantity of the material through the duct and into Ythe cylinder, contracted outlets at the other end of the cylinder for the material and forthe converting gas,means to force-a converting gas into the cylinder to act upon Ythe material therein, thev contracted outlets exerting a back pressurev upon the gas and maintaining the cylinder full, and mechanism to rotateV the cylinder, whereby the material is agitated and moved through the cylinder in the presence of the gas, substantially as described.

3. In an apparatus for deoxidizing and oxidizing, a rotatable cylindrical chamber,

IIO

chamber, anda gas inlet opening into said hood, through which a converting gas is introduced and forced into the chamber, substantially as described.

4. In an apparatus for deoxidizing and oxidizing, a combustion chamber, a series of rotatable inclined cylinders extended across said combustion chamber and projecting beyond the same, and closed hoods surrounding the projecting ends, combined with caps to cover the discharge ends of said cylinders, and provided with apertures, outlets communicating therewith to conduct the converted material from the chambers out of said hood, an inlet for the converting gas in the other hood, and a gas outlet in the cap inclosing hood, substantially as described.

5. In a deoxidizing apparatus, a combustion chamber, a rotatable cylinder adapted to be heated thereby, and a carburetor communicating with said chamber and cylinder, combined with means to draw the gaseous products of combustion through the carburetor and into the cylinder to act upon the material therein and deoxidize the same, substantially as described.

G. In a deox'idizing apparatns,'a combustion chamber, having an apertured bridge wall at each end thereof, a rotatable inclined cylinder extended through said apertures and across the combustion chamber, whereby the heat gradually decreases from its center to the ends of said cylinder, and means to feed the material into the upper end of the said cylinder, combined with a carburetor to receive carbonaceous material, connections between said carburetor and said combustion chamberand cylinder, and means to force the gas from the carburetor into the cylinder, substantially as described.

7. In an apparatus for deoxidziug metallic oxides, a heat generator, a rotatable cylinder externally heated thereby gradually from its center to its ends, and friction bearings for said cylinder, combined with means to rotate the cylinder, a carburetor to contain carbonaceous material, and connections between it and said heat generator and cylinder, whereby carbon-dioxide gas in its passage from the generator through the carburetoris changed to carbon-monoxide gas, to reduce the metalic oxides in the cylinder, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ALFRED B. KITTSON. ARTHUR BENJ. BROWNE. Witnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, FREDERICK L. EMERY. 

